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Their paths to the U.S. preliminary roster for the 2013 world junior championship couldn’t have been more different.

Maple Leafs prospects Tyler Biggs, a winger with the Oshawa Generals, and Garret Sparks, a goaltender with the Guelph Storm, have turned their sights on Ufa, Russia, after they were among the 27 players on the roster revealed by USA Hockey on Tuesday morning.

Biggs, the 22nd pick overall by the Leafs in 2011, can be a bull-in-the-china-shop type of forward, one who figured he would be competing at the world juniors one day. Sparks, taken 190th by the Leafs in the same year, said he would have laughed a year ago had he been told he would be wearing his nation’s colours on such a stage.

“I just kind of felt I was a long shot at the beginning of the process,” Sparks said. “To be named to the team is quite an accomplishment for me, personally. It has been a combination of playing for a great team in Guelph, being surrounded by people who really support me, and getting a couple of good bounces along the way. It’s really a dream come true.”

Biggs has represented the U.S. on several occasions, but did not play in the 2012 world juniors. He has rebounded nicely with the Generals after a season to forget at Miami University of Ohio, registering a point-a-game clip through 30 games.

“I had high hopes,” Biggs said. “I went into the summer training camp and left with a good feeling and the idea I left (U.S. coach Phil Housley and his staff) with a good feeling as well. But you never know. A lot of it had to with the start I have had (with the Gens).”

The Americans will have a mini camp in Tarrytown, N.Y., Dec. 16-18 and will announce their final roster on Dec. 23 after two exhibition games in Finland. Of the 27 players, two defencemen and two forwards will be cut.

Barring injury, Sparks will be going to Europe, as the Americans will carry three goalies. It’s hard to see Biggs not playing a pivotal role, never mind surviving camp.

The team will have just three returning players from the group that finished seventh last winter. There’s some formidable talent, with forward J.T. Miller, who plays for Connecticut of the American Hockey League, and defenceman Jacob Trouba, a Winnipeg Jets first-rounder, and goalie John Gibson. All three bring last year’s experience, and they will be joined by Alex Galchenyuk, the third pick overall by Montreal in June and defenceman Seth Jones, a top prospect for the 2013 NHL entry draft.

General manager Jim Johannson has a roster infused with youth, as no less than 10 of the players are eligible for the world junior tournament next winter.

He thinks Biggs can lead by example.

“Tyler has always had strong leadership abilities, and it has carried over into his confidence with Oshawa,” Johannson said. “He’s a guy that opponents are going to know when he is on the ice. He plays hockey the right way, delivers checks that are hockey plays as opposed to just running around trying to hit guys. There’s high expectation for him. He’s a guy I know will thrive under the type of competitive environment that the tournament is and he will be a guy who teammates look to for a bit of a physical edge.”

Through Sunday’s Ontario Hockey League games, Sparks had faced 906 shots with the Storm this season, the second-most in the OHL. But he had a .916 save percentage, something that didn’t get past Johannson.

“There have been some really good nights and there are nights when he has not played as well,” Johannson said. “The bottom line is he has been very competitive and has answered the bell every time when the real challenges have hit him. He earned his way into this opportunity.”

SURVIVE AND THRIVE

Jim Johannson knows what kind of hockey he wants the U.S. junior team to play.

The general manager of the American club hopes that what unfolds in Ufa, Russia, in the 2013 world junior championship proves him right.

“There is speed and skating, but there is also some size and grit,” Johannson said of his 27-player preliminary roster. “You have to combine those two. In the end, this tournament is about playing six or seven games in — for us this year — 10 nights and you have to build a team that can survive that kind of schedule, and thrive at the end.

“You better be big and strong at the end, because that is what you are going to play against.”

Maple Leafs prospect Tyler Biggs said opponents can count on a U.S. side that won’t be pushed around.

“We’re a team that is going to be tough to play against, I can tell you that,” the 6-foot-2, 223-pound Biggs said. “It won’t be easy for anybody coming up against us.”

Two Leafs prospects, two roads to Team USA camp

Their paths to the U.S. preliminary roster for the 2013 world junior championship couldn’t have been more different.

Maple Leafs prospects Tyler Biggs, a winger with the Oshawa Generals, and Garret Sparks, a goaltender with the Guelph Storm, have turned their sights on Ufa, Russia, after they were among the 27 players on the roster revealed by USA Hockey on Tuesday morning.

Biggs, the 22nd pick overall by the Leafs in 2011, can be a bull-in-the-china-shop type of forward, one who figured he would be competing at the world juniors one day. Sparks, taken 190th by the Leafs in the same year, said he would have laughed a year ago had he been told he would be wearing his nation’s colours on such a stage.

“I just kind of felt I was a long shot at the beginning of the process,” Sparks said. “To be named to the team is quite an accomplishment for me, personally. It has been a combination of playing for a great team in Guelph, being surrounded by people who really support m